Daily Tehillim - Psalms

Chapters 90-96

David found this prayer in its present form-receiving a tradition attributing it to MosesThe Midrash attributes the next eleven psalms to Moses (Rashi).-and incorporated it into the Tehillim. It speaks of the brevity of human life, and inspires man to repent and avoid pride in this world.

1. A prayer by Moses, the man of God. My Lord, You have been a shelter for us in every generation.

2. Before the mountains came into being, before You created the earth and the world-for ever and ever You are Almighty God.

3. You diminish man until he is crushed, and You say, "Return, you children of man.”

4. Indeed, a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night.

5. The stream of their life is as but a slumber; in the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.

6. In the morning it thrives and sprouts anew; in the evening it withers and dries.

7. For we are consumed by Your anger, and destroyed by Your wrath.

8. You have set our wrongdoings before You, our hidden sins before the light of Your countenance.

9. For all our days have vanished in Your wrath; we cause our years to pass like a fleeting sound.

10. The days of our lives number seventy years, and if in great vigor, eighty years; most of them are but travail and futility, passing quickly and flying away.

11. Who can know the intensity of Your anger? Your wrath is commensurate with one's fear of You.

12. Teach us, then, to reckon our days, that we may acquire a wise heart.

14. Satiate us in the morning with Your kindness, then we shall sing and rejoice throughout our days.

15. Give us joy corresponding to the days You afflicted us, the years we have seen adversity.

16. Let Your work be revealed to Your servants, and Your splendor be upon their children.

17. May the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us; establish for us the work of our hands; establish the work of our hands.

Chapter 91

This psalm inspires the hearts of the people to seek shelter under the wings of the Divine Presence. It also speaks of the four seasons of the year, and their respective ministering powers, instructing those who safeguard their souls to avoid them.

1. You who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Omnipotent:

2. I say of the Lord who is my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust,

3. that He will save you from the ensnaring trap, from the destructive pestilence.

4. He will cover you with His pinions and you will find refuge under His wings; His truth is a shield and an armor.

5. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day;

6. the pestilence that prowls in the darkness, nor the destruction that ravages at noon.

7. A thousand may fall at your [left] side, and ten thousand at your right, but it shall not reach you.

8. You need only look with your eyes, and you will see the retribution of the wicked.

9. Because you [have said,] "The Lord is my shelter," and you have made the Most High your haven,

10. no evil will befall you, no plague will come near your tent.

11. For He will instruct His angels in your behalf, to guard you in all your ways.

12. They will carry you in their hands, lest you injure your foot upon a rock.

13. You will tread upon the lion and the viper; you will trample upon the young lion and the serpent.

14. Because he desires Me, I will deliver him; I will fortify him, for he knows My Name.

15. When he calls on Me, I will answer him; I am with him in distress. I will deliver him and honor him.

16. I will satiate him with long life, and show him My deliverance.

Chapter 92

Sung every Shabbat by the Levites in the Holy Temple, this psalm speaks of the World to Come, and comforts the hearts of those crushed by suffering.

1. A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day.

2. It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing to Your Name, O Most High;

3. to proclaim Your kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness in the nights,

4. with a ten-stringed instrument and lyre, to the melody of a harp.

5. For You, Lord, have gladdened me with Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hand.

6. How great are Your works, O Lord; how very profound Your thoughts!

7. A brutish man cannot know, a fool cannot comprehend this:

8. When the wicked thrive like grass, and all evildoers flourish-it is in order that they may be destroyed forever.